This week’s poem is “Making a Fist,” by Naomi Shihab Nye. It begins,
For the first time, on the road north of Tampico,
I felt the life sliding out of me,
a drum in the desert, harder and harder to hear.
You can read the rest of the poem at the Academy of American Poets.
“Making a Fist” is one of the first poems I read in a creative writing class at Columbia many years ago. I attended as a continuing-education student, and it has stayed with me all this time. In fact, I used the anthology it appeared in as the source for a cento that was published at Unlost, which includes a line from “Making a Fist.” The Columbia class was foundational in helping me drop my defensive “I don’t get it” approach to poetry. Worlds opened up! When I saw Bob Haozous’s sculpture “White Fist,” above, at the Heard Museum of Native American art, I made an immediate link to the Nye work.
“Bob Haozous: A Retrospective View” continues through November 30th at the Heard. I highly recommend a visit.
Poetry Friday is a longstanding tradition that began in the early days of the children’s book blogs, inspired by something similar among academic bloggers. (Shout-out to Grinnell professor Kelly Herold!) Everyone is welcome to join in. You’ll find a mix of subjects: original poetry (for kids, for adults), links to other poems, and other poetic adventures. You can read more about this fun weekly practice here and here. The Poetry Friday roundup for November 7th is at author Laura Purdie Salas’s place.
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Reminder: Next week several of us are attempting to walk in poet Donika Kelly’s footsteps; we’re responding to a meme or popular Internet video. Kelly’s poem is a serious piece with a fabulous turn at the end. Do join in if this appeals to you! I’ll publish my poem on Friday, November 14th. See last week’s post with additional details and a link to the mentor poem.
Photo by Susan Thomsen
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